Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 1992.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
66 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
15 people listed on the 990; $253K paid to officers and key staff.
Cassidy Lekan’s $99K as President/CEO (to 08/24) is at the 34th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3868 $1–10M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margo Spence | — | — | $160,336 | $156,524 | $156,524 | $154,063 |
| Cassidy Lekan | $99,211 | $120,299 | — | — | — | — |
| David Nuscher | — | — | $112,710 | $107,920 | $107,920 | $98,754 |
| Jane Benefiel | $84,787 | $76,512 | — | — | — | — |
| Morgan Gibson | $51,321 | — | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See The First Step Home INC executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Helps women overcome addiction and mental health issues to rebuild families and become self-sufficient.
Questions for The First Step Home INC
Your first name shows with your question. The First Step Home INC answers here, for everyone.
Residential Treatment
First step home is the only residential treatment facility for women in southwest ohio that allows women to undergo treatment while allowing their children, under the age of 12, to live with them. During fiscal year 2020, 189 women were admitted to our residential program.
Outpatient Treatment
Our typical client begins their treatment in our residential program and then moves to outpatient as they are stabilized in their addiction treatment. We have two lower levels of care in outpatient: one at 6 days of treatment per week and a lower level of 3 days of treatment per week.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
Federal money
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $469K | $745K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $264K | $270K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $3.9M | $4.0M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $5.1M | $5.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.9M | $1.9M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $3.2M | $4.0M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $272K | $272K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $2.0M | $1.6M | $331K | $104K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $13K | $13K | ||
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $375K | $302K | $63K | $9K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $171K | $114K | $49K | $8K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $12K | $12K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $55K | $55K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $389K | $150K | $238K | $520 |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $3K | $3K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $79K | $46K | $29K | $4K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $20K | $20K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $346K | $244K | $102K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $47K | $25K | $21K | $1K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $9K | $5K | $2K | $2K |
| InterestLn 20 | $35K | $15K | $21K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $201K | $142K | $59K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $48K | $34K | $14K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $221K | $188K | $17K | $16K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $35K | $15K | $19K | $775 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $4.3M | $2.8M | $1.3M | $165K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Feb 11, 2026 | $4.4M | $3.9M | $511K | $5.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS May 13, 2025 | $4.3M | $3.9M | $372K | $5.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS May 3, 2024 | $4.4M | $4.9M | −$509K | $4.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS May 11, 2023 | $4.9M | $5.0M | −$107K | $5.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS May 16, 2022 | $6.2M | $4.5M | $1.6M | $5.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS May 26, 2021 | $5.1M | $4.3M | $792K | $4.0M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $5,113,969 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 13 of 13 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $5,113,969 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $4,322,393 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $5,871,193 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $3,986,547 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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